Photographer Markus Hofstaetter is well known for his excellent analog photography and fun do-it-yourself projects. The Austrian photographer is spoiled with opportunities to get new gear, including at Joe Geier's Mint and Rare Store, which organizes a biannual analog flea market called Wiener Fotoboersë.
It seems like a scratched lens would produce poor images, but as Markus Hofstaetter shows, it can be hard to tell when looking at the photos themselves. Scratched lenses are typically relatively cheap to purchase second-hand, and they can represent a fantastic bargain.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter's wet-plate work often features big, ultra-fast lenses. However, Hofstaetter recently acquired a very tiny lens that has caused him some massive problems.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter is back with another unique photography project: he created a high dynamic range (HDR) tintype using a super-fast 120mm f/1.0 lens.
Artificial intelligence images have the potential to misinform the future. For the first time in the technological present, we are on the cusp of a life-and-art-altering explosion of intentionally created dis-informational imagery.
Years ago, photographer Markus Hofstaetter purchased a 140mm f/1.0 lens designed for projectors. He recently found the right opportunity to pair this unusual lens with an ultra-large format camera.
A photographer has renovated his 100-year-old 8x10 large format film camera after its original bellows began leaking light.
A photographer battled to get these extreme close-up photos of eyes that look like an otherworldly landscape.
Photographer Corrine Gretton-West booked a wet plate workshop with me before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Two years later we were finally able to do it.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter has been looking for what he calls his "dream lens" for some time, visiting flea markets and using his contacts to try and locate the Dallmeyer 3B Petzval lens, circa 1876. Thanks to one of his friends, he finally found one in shockingly-good condition.
With the current state of affairs, photographers have been coming up with unique ways to exercise their craft remotely. Photographer Markus Hofstaetter decided he wanted to make a portrait with a friend and came up with a way to do it despite the vast distance between them.
Whenever something is bothering wet plate photographer Markus Hofstaetter, he captures his anxiety with striking, creative imagery. Lately, the idea of "division"—in ourselves, our societies, and our world—has been on his mind, so he set about capturing a "division" portrait. The twist: he didn't want to capture any visible light.
Photographer Markus Hofstätter has made a name for himself by pushing wet plate photography to new heights, trying things others have never even thought to do. Today brings yet another example of his creativity, as he sets out to create an animation using, not digital files, but wet plate collodion tintypes.
Wet plate photography master Markus Hofstaetter—a frequent guest author on PetaPixel—recently embarked on another photography experiment. Using pebbles of sandarac resin, he made his own Renaissance-era varnish for his finished wet plates.
It was a normal Saturday afternoon in November when I walked into a flea marked. I met some friends there, looked around a little bit, and in the end I bought this Gasc and Charconnet 500mm Petzval lens in the hopes that I could bring it back to life.
If you're an Adobe user and a Canon studio shooter who relies on tethering for your workflow, do not update to the latest version of macOS Catalina. Something in macOS 10.15.2 has broken Lightroom's ability to tether with Canon cameras, and there is currently no workaround.
If you develop your own film or wet plates, photographer Markus Hofstaetter has a great tip for you. With just a tiny little DIY tweak, you can turn a $5 all-in-one IKEA gadget into the perfect all-in-one Darkroom timer, thermometer and clock.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter just completed an ambitious project in which he spent 6 months working to shoot stereo 3D photos on large format wet plates.
Passport photos on wet plate collodion aren't legally compliant, but you're guaranteed to have fun making them. I shot wet plate collodion passport photos using a Polaroid Miniportrait camera.
Normally I use videos to document my work. This time the video is the main outcome of my work -- I shot an ultra-macro video that shows how the crystals/salts change during the wet plate collodion process.
Photographer Markus Hofstaetter often gets asked about how he acquires the plates he uses for wet plate collodion photography. To answer that question, Hofstaetter made this 7-minute video showing how he has them custom cut on a 75-year-old machine.
After I recently saw cherry blossoms on my tree, I wanted to shoot one of them with my wet plate camera... while the blossom is still high on the tree.
Wet plate photographer Markus Hofstaetter recently tried his hand at tackling an unusual project: he wanted to shoot wet plate portraits handheld.
Austrian photographer Markus Hofstaetter recently captured this fiery wedding portrait, titled "Love on Fire." It's a single exposure that can be shot with a much smaller budget than you might think. And no, you don't need a gigantic flaming explosion.
For a recent project, I was tasked with shooting a hot rod. It was exciting from the beginning, because this particular kind of car is pretty rare here where I live. The owner also requested that their dog sit on the car's fender, and for the photos to be huge -- 100 megapixels were too few.
Wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter took it upon himself to bring a giant 73-kilogram (160-pounds) ultra-large format flatbed scanner back to life, a process that took three full months.
Wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter recently acquired a Zeiss 300mm f/4.5 lens, and although it produced beautiful results, the process of getting to a finished image was filled with numerous obstacles along the way.
Photographer Markus Hofstätter -- known for his collodion wet-plate photography expertise -- decided to try something different and used the 170-year old shooting process to capture incredibly detailed high-end food photos.
Although large-format photography may be an intricate and slow process often shot in a studio, it doesn't mean that it can't be taken outdoors with a little ingenuity.
Well-known wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter recently purchased an old wet-plate camera, repaired it to a working condition, and added two lenses to it with the help of his 3D printer.
For those who shoot with antique lenses but are missing Waterhouse stops, photographer Markus Hofstätter has put together a tutorial that shows a couple of ways that shooters can create their own.
After an accident that left an otherwise well-built Linhof tripod in a bad shape, watch as photographer Markus Hofstätter brought it back to life with full functionality.
Photographer Markus Hofstätter discovered a family of swans and, over time, gained their trust enough to approach and photograph them. Eventually, he decided to do so with his large-format camera and an expired Kodak Readyload film.
Photographer Markus Hofstätter had been designing parts for his cameras and 3D printing them at home when the idea to try something new struck him: 3D printing photographs. After a lot of trial and error, he successfully found a way to translate wet plate photos into 3D printed pieces.
Professional wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter is obviously fond of historical photography processes. But his latest video doesn't actually involve taking any photos; instead, he's restoring a 140-year-old chirping brass bird that is thought to be the origin of the phrase "watch the birdie."
Wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter wanted to use his art to encourage people to #stayathome during the coronavirus pandemic, so he took a series of self-portraits that are meant to drive home a simple message: don't be like Bob.
Did you know that you can make your own ground glass focusing screen? In his latest video, wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter shows you exactly how by making a ground glass screen for one of his large format cameras.